Preventing Plastic Pollution (PPP)

Globally, about 80% of plastic pollution comes from terrestrial sources (GESAMP, 2016) and approximately 4 million tonnes of plastic waste enter the sea via rivers every year (Schmidt et al 2017. Environ. Sci. Technol. 51, 12246-12253); yet we lack a baseline of the extent of this pollution and an understanding of its origin. Thus, managing this is difficult, piecemeal and costly.
We therefore need to understand the origins of plastic pollution in the marine environment to effectively target its sources.
Working in partnership with 18 organisations from across France and England, Preventing Plastic Pollution (PPP) seeks to understand and reduce the impacts of plastic pollution in the marine environment. By looking at the catchment from source to sea, the project will identify and target hotspots for plastic, embed behaviour change in local communities and businesses, and implement effective solutions and alternatives.  
The PPP project will develop and use a conceptual catchment model to gather data on the amount and likely sources of plastic pollution in seven pilot sites including: Brest Harbour, Douarnenez Bay, Bay of Veys, Medway, Tamar, Great Ouse & Poole Harbour.
Plastic pollution entering the catchments will be identified, quantified based on standardised approaches that will be then evaluated. This conceptual model will be used to identify pollution hotspots and where interventions would be most effective.
Using this model to target and guide actions, the partners will assess the cost-effectiveness/sustainability of current and innovative approaches, creating a portfolio of tried and tested sustainable sector-specific removal methods that can be adopted in and beyond the FCE area to prevent and better manage pollution protecting biodiversity and ecosystems.
PPP will also engage with various communities, agriculture and fishing/maritime industries to determine effective ways to capture and remove plastic waste from their activities, reducing plastic footprints and steering them to more sustainable behaviours.

The objectives of PPP will be to improve the quality of Transitional Waters across the France (Channel) England area (SO 3.2) by:
• Developing a scalable and transferable mapping tool to provide quantifiable evidence of sources and quantities of plastic pollution in catchments.
• Developing an effective portfolio of innovative interventions to reduce plastic waste in or entering catchments.
• Transforming the behaviour of target groups and demonstrating best practice.
PPP’s expected results is to improve water quality with:
• A 10% improvement in good ecological status (WFD Descriptor 10) in transitional waters.
• A reduction in the harm caused by plastic pollution in rivers and the sea equivalent to €38.8 million-€126 million (150 km river/coast cleared, 200 tonnes plastic removed).
• A plastic-free charter implemented by 650 businesses and 50 supply chains modified.
• Projected uptake to include 10 more catchments 2 years post-project, and 100 catchments after 5 years.